


Precious Things

by MikazukiMunechika305



Category: Hakuouki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 08:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5284511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikazukiMunechika305/pseuds/MikazukiMunechika305
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What Sanosuke has always known finally gets demonstrated: "In order to achieve things, you have to give other things up—and the more precious something is to you, the more you have to give up to have it."</p><p>Ryunosuke only wants to protect the things that are precious to him.<br/>He wouldn't have it expected to end like this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Precious Things

“Why are you stealing my food again, Shinpattsuan?!” Heisuke complains.  
“You're still asking?” Shinpachi laughs at him mockingly. “I'm bigger than you; I need more food.”  
“No, I'm still growing, so I need more food!”  
“Uh, is this alright?” Ryunosuke asks worriedly, lifting up one hand to point at the two of them.  
Sanosuke laughs. “Don't worry; you'll get used to this soon. If you live here—especially when you eat with us—you have to protect what's yours and take what you can get from the others. That's our rule here. And you should know that you're pretty off-guard right now.” With a playful grin, he takes some of Ryunosuke's rice.  
“Oi!” the blue-haired boy calls out, but of course, Sanosuke is right—he's not watching out very well. If what he's just been told is true, maybe he should start as well...  
...he thinks and reaches out for Saitou's food.  
“Hey.” Saitou's voice is quiet and calm, but there is a slight hint of a threatening tone in it. “If you need me for something, please wait until I've finished eating. I prefer not being interrupted when I have a meal. Further, this is my favourite dish, so don't you dare touching it!”  
Saitou, who is a very calm and respectful person, usually doesn't say so many words at once, and now there is also a pretty threatening glance he gives Ryunosuke—the blue-haired boy stops his movement immediately, mumbling something like “I'm sorry, Saitou-san, I didn't mean to interrupt you!”  
“I see.” The black-haired warrior nods silently and continues eating. There's nothing more to feel of the strained atmosphere that has been there just a few seconds ago.  
Ryunosuke remains quiet, still a little scared, and doesn't try to steal anyone's food anymore during this dinner.  
Later, when they've finished dinner, Sanosuke, Heisuke and Shinpachi accompany Ryunosuke on the way back to his room.  
“You surprised me!” Sanosuke laughs. “I wouldn't have expected you to go after Saitou's food. What I told you is nothing but the truth, but if I were you, I wouldn't try to steal food from Saitou or Hijikata-san—they can get very angry even about little things like that.”  
“Oh yeah!” Heisuke agrees eagerly, “We tried stealing their food once, but...”  
The blue-haired boy only listens to them with half an ear and starts thinking about how he has grown to like them.  
Sanosuke who is like a big brother to him.  
Shinpachi who treats him like a part of them, like one of his best friends.  
Heisuke who acts like they have known each other for more than an eternity.  
They are the three closest to him, but the others are also very nice.  
Kondou-san who behaves like Ryunosuke was his son, just like he does with the others.  
Saitou who seems to like him although he doesn't show it—he has offered to teach him swordsmanship after all.  
Souji who never shows what he thinks about him... well, Souji would probably kill him without batting an eye, but this is something he can easily ignore because he gets along with everyone else so well.  
Sannan who treats him like a friend who he has known for a long time.  
And, last but not least, Hijikata-san who pretends to be annoyed by him, but secretly worries about him as well as he worries about everyone else.  
To make it short, all of the commanders treat him as if he was one of them; they treat him like a normal person—the exact opposite of how Serizawa treats him, and this friendship the commanders show him makes his life so much easier.  
Now, Ryunosuke realizes for the first time how precious they are to him. He might have disliked his situation of having to live in their headquarters at first, but now he knows that there couldn't have been a better thing to happen to him.  
After all the time he has already spent there, he wants to stay with them so badly that it almost hurts if he only thinks about leaving.  
For the first time in his life, he has found a reason to live—for the first time in his life, he has found real friends.


End file.
